Re: Things learned in IT

Re: Things learned in IT

Posted 14 August 2012 - 01:42 PM

@no2 - Ha.. ain't that the truth.

I think a corollary of that "Every so often watch your users use your product, but pay more attention to those who they train. A user may be *trained* to use your software one way, and they may even *SAY* they are using it as intended, but they will build up books and books of: cheats, error work around, abuse of states, and sympathetic magic routines with out ever telling you. This all spills forth with the second generation being trained by the first adopters.".

Re: Things learned in IT

Posted 15 August 2012 - 11:26 AM

User: Oh, that hasn't worked for months.
IT: uh, why didn't you send us an email?
User: We figured you'd get to it eventually.
IT: I didn't even know it was broken.
User: Oh, well, now you do so, whenever you get a chance to fix it that'd be great.

Re: Things learned in IT

Posted 15 August 2012 - 11:33 AM

Corollary - when a user says "whenever you get a chance" that means in two minutes because the fate of the company's financials depends on me impressing some new client with a zany power point presentation that *REQUIRE* these handouts to be printed.

Re: Things learned in IT

1) Do not delete any accounts that could be an alias to the admin account for an entire company, read the warning, when it says delete the files ... stop and think hard about it before you say yes.

2) Ask questions of the end user. Walk them through step by step, what they did when they have an issue to find the real cause of an error or another problem they say they have. They hardly ever explain it correctly the first time.

3) Don't be afraid to teach users, who are interested, how to do some of things that you know. Do not hoard knowledge for job security. I have found the more they know how to do the more they want and need. It's a win/win situation.